


Mistaken Identity

by SingingInTheRaiin



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Auror Harry Potter, Big Party, Gen, Harry is bad at flirting, Kidnapping, M/M, Patronus, Post-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Tom Riddle is a handsome bastard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-24 17:50:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20018578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SingingInTheRaiin/pseuds/SingingInTheRaiin
Summary: Harry accidentally flirts with the wrong man during a sting operation. If only he had known the consequences it would bring...





	Mistaken Identity

The best way to cut the woman down to size would be to flirt with her husband. And while normally, Harry would never abide by such low tactics, he was willing to make an exception in this case. Potentially ruining a single marriage was nothing compared to catching a killer and saving innocent lives. 

The murderer would have been arrested days ago, if it hadn’t been for the lack of actual evidence against her. But based on the profile they had made of her, Harry had figured out that she would become extremely enraged at the idea of anyone else daring to flirt with her husband. She would go after whoever did the flirting, and she would be caught in the act.

As Harry looked around the crowded room, he couldn’t help wishing that he’d been able to see an actual photograph of the husband. As it was, all he had was a vague description to go off of: wavy dark hair, intense dark eyes, tall. Then Harry’s eyes landed on a man with a particularly regal air about him. Surely the killer would only want the very best for herself, which meant the most handsome man she could grab. And the one Harry had spotted seemed to fit that bill.

So Harry quickly made his way through the crowd, not wanting to lose sight of his target. It wasn’t until he was actually standing next to the man that he realized he had no idea what to say. Flirting had never been Harry’s strong suit, something that both Ginny and Cedric could strongly attest to.

After a few seconds passed as Harry tried to think of something to say, he realized that the man’s intense gaze had landed on Harry, and felt like it was piercing right through him. He gulped nervously. “Is there something I can do for you?”

Harry’s eyes widened slightly at the sound of that beautiful, velvety voice. He could think of several things that he wanted this man to do for him- though not a single one of them was at all appropriate. Harry cleared his throat, and tipped his head back slightly to meet the man’s gaze. “I’m terribly sorry, that was rude of me to stare. I don’t usually become so speechless at the sight of a pretty face.”

The man arched one eyebrow. “I beg your pardon?”

Harry could feel his cheeks burning, but figured that it was too late to back down now. He’d shoot his shot, and worst case scenario, someone would send the murderer pictures of Harry speaking with her husband, and hope that it was enough to piss her off. “Sorry I’m not…” he trailed off, and then clasped his hands behind his back to stop fidgeting awkwardly. “I’m not very good at this.”

“No, you’re not.” And with that, the man turned around and walked away.

There was a brief pause as Harry processed the fact that he’d just failed, and then he winced at the idea of rejection. There was no way that that ‘conversation’ would have been long enough to actually piss off the suspect. Well, at least there were other aurors undercover at this party. Hopefully one of them would have better luck than he did.

But none of the others were approaching the husband, even after another twenty minutes passed. Perhaps they hadn’t spotted him? Harry took a deep breath in, and then slowly let it out. Apparently it was up to him to try again. A little bit of humiliation was a small price to pay to catch a murderer.

Even though Harry was on duty, he did snag a glass of some fancy looking drink, and chugged it down quickly, for courage. As long as he didn’t become excessively drunk in the middle of an operation, he couldn’t see the problem with having a drink.

Then he squared his shoulders, and headed back towards the man who had already rejected him. This time, the husband saw Harry coming, and sharply arched one eyebrow. If his eyes weren’t so cold, he would look like a fairy tale prince. “I don’t attend these functions because I wish to be bothered.”

Harry nodded. “I know. I want to apologize. I swear I wasn’t trying to be funny earlier. I’m just really not good at talking to people. Especially when they look so, uh, intimidating.”

The man gave Harry a long look that made it quite clear he thought Harry was some kind of idiot. “Then there was no need to have approached me in the first place.” Then he walked away again, and Harry just nodded and accepted his fate.

The party was starting to feel a bit overwhelming, so Harry decided to head outside onto the nearest balcony for some fresh air and peace and quiet. It was a nice change of pace, and there was certainly a nice view. He was outside for longer than intended, when a patronus trotted over to him. " _The suspect is in custody. Take the rest of the night off._ " Harry wondered which of his colleagues had managed to successfully flirt with the husband.

Since he didn’t have to head back to the office until the next morning, Harry decided he was just going to call it a night and head home for some nice rest. He made his way back inside so that he could head to the exit, and tried to ignore all of the gossip going around about the woman who had just been arrested, presumably after openly attacking someone. 

Harry left the large ballroom and entered the hallway that would lead him away from this party, and was planning on just hustling through and then disapparating back to his flat, but then he noticed someone standing around, looking glum. It was the suspect’s husband, with his arms crossed over his chest and his back leaned up against the wall, and there was a defeated look on his face.

Harry bit his lip and hesitated for a moment, but in the end the urge to comfort the man beat out the urge to just run away and avoid any further humiliation. He slowly walked up to the man, and cleared his throat softly, not wanting to startle him. “I know that this can’t be easy for you, but you have to understand that this is what’s best and safest for everyone.”

The man looked at Harry, and furrowed his eyebrows. “What-?”

“I just mean that a lot more people were going to get hurt if she hadn’t been arrested tonight. And if you really did love her, then I’m not trying to just dismiss your feelings, because I understand that people can have so many different layers to them, and can seem like totally different people depending on who they’re around at that moment. Anyways, I know you don’t know me or like me, but if you do need anyone to talk to, I could help you get in touch with some really good therapists. No one would think any less of you for needing to talk about it, Mr. Hammond.” 

The man blinked a few times, and then tilted his head to the side. “You think that I’m upset because… my wife was arrested?”

Harry shrugged. “I’d imagine that anyone would be upset to learn that their spouse isn’t who they thought they were. But I can assure you that no one blames you in any way for her actions.” The earnestness in his voice was genuine; he just wanted to make sure that this man would be alright after what he’d been through.

There was a long pause before Mr. Hammond offered Harry a slight smile. “You are too kind, Mr…?”

“Potter.” Harry held out his hand. “Harry Potter. I’m one of the aurors who was working your wife’s case.”

Something in Mr. Hammond’s entire posture seemed to shift, and suddenly instead of looking downtrodden, he looked almost predatory, and there was a strange excitement in his eyes that certainly hadn’t been there during their previous two encounters. “Harry Potter,” he murmured to himself. And even though he was only saying Harry’s name, he somehow managed to make it sound very indecent. Harry suddenly felt unsure of himself. They’d always assumed that Tabitha Hammond had been working on her own, but something about the way Mr. Hammond was holding himself made Harry feel uncomfortable. But then the look passed as quickly as it had come on, and the taller man was back to being a grieving husband. “Mr. Potter, I do appreciate your kind words, but I’m just not sure I’d be able to talk with a therapist. I’m always nervous around them.”

Harry gave Mr. Hammond a scrutinizing look, but he couldn’t see any trace of the weirdness, and he relaxed. “Mr. Hammond-”

“Please, call me Tom,” he interrupted in a soft voice. 

Harry offered a small smile. “Tom, then. I just want you to know that you’re not alone.”

Tom tentatively smiled back. “That means a lot to me Mr. Potter. It’s just…” he trailed off, looking nervous. Harry’s normally impeccable instincts told him that it was just some kind of act, but he couldn’t figure out why a man in Tom’s position would have any reason to act bothered. Anyone would be upset about their wife being arrested for murder. But then Tom kept talking, and Harry quickly forgot about the weird feeling in his gut. “I’m just not sure I can go home alone right now.”

The distraught tone brought back far too many memories for Harry. Of when he and his wife realized that they’d only gotten married because it was something that everyone had expected them to do. They had parted ways as friends, but Harry could still easily remember the first time he’d gone home to an empty building, and had just suddenly felt as though he was empty, and lonely.

So Harry gave Tom a determined look. “What would make you feel most at ease? Do you want help calling a friend to stay with you?”

Tom slowly shook his head. “I’m afraid I don’t have many friends that I’d feel comfortable around.” Harry nodded in understanding. It would be quite awkward to call up friends who had been more Tabitha’s friends than Tom’s. “I’m not even sure I can stand the idea of going back to my flat at all.”

Harry shifted awkwardly on his feet. “I know we don’t even know each other, but I’ve got a pull out couch at my place-”

“Perfect!” Tom clapped his hands together, and gave Harry a pleased look. “Shall we be on our way, then?”

They headed outside, and then disapparated away to the discreet apparition point near Harry’s apartment building. After Ginny had left, his house had just felt far too big and empty, so he’d decided to sell the place and settle for a smaller flat instead. And to ensure privacy from the other residents of his building, he’d moved to a muggle neighborhood where none of his neighbors would know him. “Be careful to only do magic when you’re actually inside my place, okay? We’re surrounded by muggles.” A look of absolute disgust crossed Tom’s face so quickly that Harry wasn’t sure if it had actually even been there or not. He decided to ignore it, and led Tom inside and to the elevator, heading up to his place. 

After Tom entered the flat, Harry closed the door behind them, and then shrugged off his jacket to hang up on the hook by the door. Tom took his jacket off as well, and then gave Harry a long look. “Thank you for this.”

Harry shrugged. “It’s not a bother. Let me go grab some extra blankets and pillows so that we can set up a nice spot for you. Did you need anything from your place? I could head by and grab stuff for you.”

Tom quickly shook his head. “That’s quite alright. It’ll all still be waiting for me when I do go back.”

It didn’t take long for Harry to unfold the couch and set it up, and then he made two cups of tea and gave one to Tom. “You’re welcome to anything in the kitchen, and I’ll scrounge up a spare toothbrush.” 

He turned to head to the bathroom, but Tom quickly reached out to grab Harry’s arm. “Honestly, thank you.” Then he tugged Harry closer to lean down and press a quick kiss to the top of Harry’s head. Harry blinked in surprise, and he could feel his face heating up, but then Tom just let go of his arm and headed back to the couch like nothing happened. Maybe it was normal to thank people with kisses wherever Tom grew up? Either way, it was definitely best for both of them to just go to sleep now. All their problems would still be waiting for them in the morning, but at least it would be light out. 

,,,

Harry woke up with a soft groan, feeling aches all throughout his body. He couldn’t think of any explanation for that, and his eyes fluttered open. He grew more alarmed as he realized that he was tied to a chair, still in his pajamas, wand nowhere in sight. At least being tied to a chair explained the aches, from having slept with his limbs in such awkward positions. “What the hell-?”

Tom stepped out of the kitchen, and gave Harry a dark grin, sending shivers down Harry’s spine. “Oh good, you’re awake. I was starting to worry that the sleep spell I used was too strong. How are you feeling?”

Harry ignored Tom and tried to struggle free from his bindings, but it was fruitless. “What are you doing? Untie me this instant! I am an auror, and-”

“I know,” Tom interrupted in his smooth, calm voice. “I’m not worried.” He walked closer to Harry, though not close enough that he could be headbutted in the stomach. “Should I be insulted that you don’t remember me? Though I suppose, to be fair, I didn’t recognize you at first either. We were both much younger the last time that we met.”

Harry frowned. “What are you talking about? Who are you?”

Tom laughed. “Well, before I say anything, need I remind you that you only have yourself to blame? You are the one who jumped to the conclusion that I was this ‘Mr. Hammond’ that you were looking for. But I have no wife, and my name certainly isn’t Hammond. It’s Riddle.”

Harry’s eyes widened in shock. He looked closer at Tom, and he could see a resemblance to the boy in the diary from his second year at Hogwarts. He couldn’t remember many specific details because it had been so many years since then, but the dark hair and piercing eyes lined up with Harry’s memories. “How is this possible? The diary was destroyed!”

Tom sank down onto the couch, and gave Harry a curious look. “I don’t have any answers to that one, I’m afraid. My personal theory is that destroying the diary actually freed the memory, but there’s nothing to support that. All I know is that I woke up in the chamber after our encounter, suddenly a real boy again. I traveled around for a while, far from where there was any chance of me being recognized. But this is my home, so I decided to return. I certainly wasn’t expecting to ever bump into you again. You’ve certainly aged well.” He reached out as if to touch Harry’s face, but Harry quickly jerked away from the touch.

As he took in Tom’s words, Harry let out a horrified gasp. “Do you mean to tell me that there were two of you running around for at least two or three years?” 

Tom shrugged. “I suppose so. I didn’t keep up much with the local politics. I only heard the news of my counterpart’s demise because it was so widespread. I wasn’t too broken up about it, though. Clearly he had gone mad from his obsession.”

“And you haven’t? You don’t want to become immortal?”

Tom shrugged again. “Perhaps someday. Though I’m not sure how well it would work for me to make horcruxes, considering the vagueness around my very existence. And besides, after seeing how crazed it made the older me, I wouldn’t want to touch the idea. I might have a few other ideas, though.”

Then he took a long sip of his tea, and lounged around like he owned the place. Harry clenched his teeth, and couldn’t stop the anger from building up in him. “What the hell do you want from me?”

Tom laughed, and spoke to Harry as though he was still just a child. “Oh Harry, I don’t even know where to begin. I collect power, which is something you have an abundance of. You used to house a shard of my soul, which connects us stronger than any other bond. You are an intelligent and attractive man. What is there not to want?”

Harry shuddered. “Please, just untie me and leave.” He kept his voice steady, even though he was freaking out.

“Oh, I’m going to leave. And you’re going to come with me. I’m quite fascinated to learn more about our connection. Do you really think it’s a coincidence that we found each other again last night? No. It’s fate.” Then he laughed out loud, and the sound was chilling because of how blatantly evil it sounded. 

,,,

Some time later, a patronus skittered into the empty flat. Hermione’s voice rang out through the living room. “ _Harry? Where are you? Mr. Hammond is here for his interview, and you’ve always been best at talking to victims. At least let me know if you got this message._ ” But there was no response.


End file.
